All eight Democratic presidential candidates addressed the NAACP conference in Detroit yesterday but only Barack Obama was the "clear crowd favorite," receiving thunderous applause and ovations, report the Detroit Free Press' Dawson Bell and Kathleen Gray.

Obama was the "clear crowd favorite" of the 3,000 delegates in attendance, but Dennis Kuicinch may have drawn the second-largest amount of applause when he challenged the other Democrats to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. This was one of dozens of shots taken at the Bush administration during the event. "In two hours, we're going to talk about more issues of importance to the African-American community than Bush has in the last six and a half years," Hillary Clinton said. All Republican candidates were invited but only Rep. Tom Tancredo attended.

There's more good news for Democrats in the fundraising arena: the New York Times' Michael Luo reports Obama, Clinton and John Edwards raised $28 million through the Web so far this year (not counting Clinton's Q2 numbers, which haven't been released yet). In contrast, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain raised $18 million via the Web for the same period. Giuliani has raised only $1.3 million online while Rep. Ron Paul has been able to sustain his campaign "in large part from Internet donations."

Lower enthusiasm for candidates in the GOP may explain some of the disparity. Rank-and-file Republicans' lack of experience giving online may also be to blame, according to Edwards adviser and Web strategist Joe Trippi. "On the Democratic side, a lot more people have already contributed to political campaigns on the Net," he said. "Whereas on the Republican side, no one gave to George Bush on the Net. Why? Because they never asked. Now they're sort of behind."

The gap extends to the NRCC where $4 million worth of debt remains from the 2006 election cycle and will probably take until the end of the third quarter to pay off, reports The Hill's Aaron Blake. NRCC chair Rep. Tom Cole downplayed the debt, saying, "It doesn't affect what we're trying to do today. What really matters is where we're at next year ... We run a very lean operation."

Meanwhile, The Politico's Mike Allen reports that Fred Thompson has backed away from denying he lobbied for an abortion-rights group during the first Bush administration. He now says he doesn't remember lobbying for them but doesn't dispute the evidence that he did either. "The climb-down could be a significant embarrassment for a prospective candidate with a plain-spoken appeal and who has courted the GOP's anti-abortion base...."

In the latest McCain news, CNN's Ed Henry reports the McCain campaign is saddled with $1.75 million in unpaid debts, leaving only $250,000 left from cash-on-hand. However, it is unclear whether this debt must be paid immediately or can be eliminated over time.

McCain's campaign lost two Iowa staffers yesterday, but is beginning to regroup. The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza reports two advisers who left the campaign in the spring are returning. Carla Eudy, who was dismissed as finance director, will return to help McCain with "advance, scheduling and fundraising." Mike Dennehy left as national political director but will return to the inner circle. Meanwhile, the Detroit News' Gordon Trowbridge reports McCain's Michigan director, Chuck Yob, wrote supporters and said three staffers remain in the state, not just himself as was previously reported.

In New Hampshire today McCain will "reiterate his support for the Bush administration's continuing war in Iraq while questioning the Iraqi government's commitment to ending the sectarian violence," reports the New Hampshire Union Leader's John DiStaso.

Get these and today's other election stories at RCP's Politics and Elections page.